Darren and Team Starkid
by awriting-love
Summary: One-Shot. Darren comes home from work in a terrible mood, one that can only be cured by Team Starkid... A cutsie, fluffy story of friendship and love. Rated T for big old swears.
1. Chapter 1

Darren collapsed to the floor, his back pressed against the wall of his hallway and his head lounging on the closed door. The day had been crap, and he had barely been able to hold it together long enough to make it home without crying. The door had only just shut when Darren gave up and let the tears fall. He really hoped Joey was home to make him a hot chocolate and to watch Mulan with him, before tucking him into an already warm bed: the perks of living with your best friend.

Darren forced himself onto his feet and stumbled towards the kitchen, ripping off his many layers of clothes as he did so.

"Joey? Are you home?" He called desperately, running from room to room trying to find his friend. But the house was empty, and Darren couldn't find Joey's trainers or wallet. He'd obviously gone out for the afternoon, especially since Darren wasn't meant to be due home until much later that night. Realising this, Darren fell to the floor again and curled his legs into his bare chest. He closed his tired eyes and sobbed uncontrollably for a few minutes, feeling lonely and sore. Once his legs started to lose feeling and his face felt heavy with tears, Darren shifted into a sitting position and fished his phone from a pile of clothes on the floor. He ignored the texts from Dianna and Harry and instead dialled Joey's number, holding the phone weakly to his ear as he started to weep again.

"J-J-Joey! Where the fuck are you, you bastard! You're never fucking home when you need to be you little shit, and you call yourself a 'friend'. Well that's obviously bullshit; you didn't even leave me a note saying where you'd gone and how to warm up some soup in the microwave! Just because you want to go and shag Jaime, doesn't mean you can leave me with no fucking explanation!" Darren yelled down the phone as soon as he heard Joey pick up, not stopping to think about his words or his tears. There was a minute of silence and then a simple:

"I'll be there in five." Darren dropped his phone and curled up again, resting his curls onto his dirty jeans, and fell asleep immediately.

"Oh my God, is he naked?"

"Lauren, stop it, you've seen it all before, we all have."

"Yeah, I know, but still: it was quite a surprise!"

"Quite a nice one though, right?"

"Dylan, shut the fuck up."

Darren wearily opened his eyes and groaned loudly when he saw the whole of Team Starkid crouched over him.

"Hey buddy, how're you doing?" Joe Walker smiled down at him and offered a hand to help him up. Darren took it gratefully and was pulled onto his feet. Lauren slipped under Walker's arm and thrust a dressing gown at Darren, averting her eyes.

"Can you please cover up Dare? It's very hard to talk to you otherwise." Darren gave her a soft smile and pulled the gown over his shoulders, tying the cord loosely around his middle. Lauren eventually looked back at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a familiar hug. He held her close, breathing in her smell and relishing the closeness of his friend.

"Alright, alright, stop hogging him!" Darren turned to the sound, and saw Julia Albain standing in the doorway, her eyebrow raised and her hand on her hip. Darren grinned and headed towards her, lifting her into his arms and kissing her hair. She hugged him back and whispered in his ear,

"It's been way too long Dare, stop trying to avoid me." Darren laughed and put her down, grabbing hold of her hand instead. They followed the rest of the group into the living room and picked a comfortable seat by the fire, which someone had kindly lit. Once everyone was settled, Jaime stood on the coffee table and cleared her throat.

"Right, plan is Darren for you to go have a shower: Brian's offered to help seeing as no one else wants the chore of seeing you naked. You will then come back, all clean and scrubbed and clothed, and Joey will have made you some of his special Thai noodles. We will then eat and settle down to watch your favourite Disney movies until you fall until a dreamless and welcomed sleep. We will stay with you for as long as you need, and we will leave as soon as you ask. Okay?" Jaime gave him a toothy smile and sat back down confidently. Darren laughed at her speech and leaned into Julia's chest.

"Starting right now?" He asked.

"Of course!" Brian Holden shouted, sweeping Darren off the floor and running with him to the bathroom, giggling all the way.

"Darren, you are way hairier than a normal human being." Brian laughed, sitting on the toilet lid as Darren showered. Darren laughed too, flicking soap at his friend.

"Just because you're incapable of growing body hair does not mean you can be jealous of my hairy self." Brian pouted and jumped up, grabbing a hairbrush from the shelf, and started singing Darren's own song '_Jealousy'_, making up ridiculous dance moves to go with the lyrics. Darren laughed and laughed, falling to his knees and knocking over a whole collection of shampoo bottles in the process.

"Can you guys please stop messing around in there!" They heard Meredith Stepien call from outside, accompanied with loud raps on the door. Brian crawled over to the door and opened it, making Meredith fall into his lap with a loud yelp. Darren laughed even harder and turned the shower off to prevent any injury. He grabbed a towel and quickly covered himself up before Meredith noticed how naked he was.

"Stop it Brian you shit!" Meredith giggled, pushing Brian away and running down the hall towards the kitchen. "Dinner's ready when you are!"

Darren pulled on a faded University of Michigan tee and some joggers as quickly as possible and followed Brian back into the living room. All of his friends were there with their bowls of noodles and Darren gratefully took his own. Though he'd never admit it to his face, Darren loved Joey's food more than anything in the world. He took a seat next to the fire with Dylan and tucked in.

"So which film is first?" Jaime asked as she fiddled with the DVD player.

"MULAN!" All of Starkid yelled. Jaime laughed and grabbed the old yet loved case and everybody got ready for the opening credits.

"So Darren, what's up?" Julia asked once the food had been eaten and a number of films had been watched.

"I've just had a super shit day, that's all." Darren answered non-committedly.

"Come on Dare, tell us everything. That phone call was really scary." Joe continued.

"And can I just add: Joey does not want to 'shag' me. That's not true at all." Jaime said, making Joey nod vigorously.

"I know, I'm sorry about that, it's just all the filming is getting to me. I mean, eleven hours ice skating for one stupid song is ridiculous. I love Glee, and I'm not complaining that their work style is wrong, but I just feel like I need a break, you know?" Darren sighed.

"Oh, the woes of someone who works too hard… I genuinely don't think we can help guys, we're far too lazy." Lauren winked at Darren and continued playing with his hair.

"Just think man, it's two weeks until Christmas! Then you can go visit your family and live like an absolute slob for a week before we come and kidnap you to spend New Year's Eve with us." Dylan reassured him.

"It'll give you a chance to recharge your batteries to start with work again." Meredith added.

"And despite how you're feeling now, you love Glee and it's such an excellent thing for you." Brian had turned serious, even though he was wearing a light up Santa hat.

"Yeah, please don't quit, you're my claim to fame!" Joe smiled.

"Too right, I live with Darren freaking Criss, and he's beautiful." Joey remarked.

"And I'm on first name terms with Chris Colfer!" Lauren laughed.

"That's because you were in his film, you dumbass, not because of Darren." Jaime shoved her friend.

"I'm only in his film because of Darren, you poop." Lauren shoved her back and they fell to the ground, play fighting.

Darren watched his friends bickering with a smile on his face, which immediately turned into a big yawn.

"Uh-oh, Darren Bear is a tired boy!" Julia cooed, interrupting the fight, "What's the cure Nurse Brian?"

"Hmm, now my training hasn't taught me medicine as detailed and complicated as this, but I'd say he must get to bed a quickly as possible!" Brian frowned, stroking his chin and prodding Darren.

"Huzzah!" Dylan concluded.

Darren reluctantly let his friends carry him to his bedroom, insisting it wasn't necessary and that he hadn't actually lost the use of his legs, but was met with swears and shouts. They finally reached his room and dropped him from a height onto his bed.

"Fucking hell you're heavy." Joe muttered.

"You have a filthy mouth." Darren retorted, laughing when Joe's lower lip stuck out.

"Good night Darren-poo! _Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll love you, tomorrow, it's only a day awaaaaaaay!" _Lauren sang, dancing enthusiastically around the room until Brian threw her over his shoulder and carried her away.

"Night fella, see you in the morn." He called as he left. Joe and Dylan quickly followed, saying they didn't trust Brian and Lauren not to break something. The rest of the group soon went too, leaving Julia alone with Darren.

"How are you feeling now?" She whispered, stroking his hair of his forehead. He closed his eyes and leant into her touch.

"A lot better, thank you so much, I love you guys more than anything." Darren replied truthfully.

"Good, I hate to see you sad."

"Jules, I wasn't completely honest about why I was upset." Darren blurted out. Julia momentarily paused playing with his hair, "No?"

"No, it's because I read on twitter that you're spending Christmas with your ex-boyfriend."

"If you're going to give me a lecture about how he will hurt me again, then I've heard enough from Jaime-" Julia snapped but Darren interrupted her.

"No, this is about me being in love with you and not telling you until it's too late."

Julia nodded and moved closer to Darren, tucking her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Jaime told me you loved me, but I thought she was making it up." Darren shook his head, deciding to ignore the fact that Jaime had given away his secret. "I love you too Dare, I really do. Let's see how Christmas goes, eh? And who knows what will happen in the New Year." She lay his head down on the pillow and tucked the blanket closer around his body. "Now why don't you have a nice sleep and I'll see you in the morning."

Darren settled down and immediately felt his eyes starting to droop. "Good night Jules."

"Good night Darren."

**Thank you for reading! I love Starkid and I hope you do too. Obviously I don't know them personally, sob, but as a fan I've simply guessed what their personalities are like. Don't take this literally or whatever, it's just my imagination. Anyway, I hope you liked it! Please review and tell me whether I should write a follow up or some more Starkid one shots or whatever - I'm open to anything. Thank you, Alice x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I wasn't expecting to write another chapter, but thanks to all your kind words, I decided to carry on. I'll also be writing one more chapter after this as well, so watch out for that. I just want to thank you for your lovely reviews - they seriously made my day! All of your words were so touching and it really encouraged me, thank you so much. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this follow up! X**

10:12am, 25th December

_-incoming call-_

"Hey Darren!"

"Hello Jules."

"How are you?"

"I'm good thanks. Look, sorry Jules, I can't stop, I can hear Chuck starting to open his presents, and I want to see his face when he sees the festival tickets I bought him. I just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas."

"And a happy new year?"

"And a happy new year."

"Well the same to you, Dar. I'll see you on the 30th."

"Looking forward to it."

"Bye Dar, happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas Jules."

30th December

The Lopez/Beatty/Albain household was an absolute mess, even more so than usual. Lauren had arrived back from her parent's the day before Jaime and Julia and had decided to start the tidying process for their party. However this resulted in her inviting Brian Holden round, getting drunk on inventive cocktails and absolutely trashing the place. So at 8 o'clock in the morning, having not gone to bed and Julia due home in an hour, they were madly trying to put it right.

"What the fuck have you got there?" Lauren shouted to Brian, who was holding a massive deer's head.

"I'm not sure, I'm still incredibly drunk." He replied, putting down the head and taking a swig from his bottle of beer.

"Then stop drinking you asshole." Lauren scolded, slapping his shoulder.

"It's Christmas!" He slurred back.

Lauren was about to make a witty reply but was interrupted by the doorbell.

"Shit!" She shouted and bolted to the door. Peering out of the letterbox she saw it wasn't Julia, as she had feared, but Joey Richter.

"Joey!" She yelled, opening the door swiftly.

"Hey doll." He smiled, leaning down to give her hug, "Jesus, you smell of bleach."

"That would be the Monty Marathon drink that Brian made me, I'm pretty sure it had some kind of cleaning product in it. Anyway, why are you here? How did you know I needed some help?"

Joey shrugged, "I didn't really, I just thought as your tweets were littered with grammatical mistakes and twisted morals that you probably weren't top drawer."

"You've never been more correct, my friend. Julia's going to be home in less than an hour and the house is pretty much destroyed. Not to mention that Brian has drunk his body weight in alcohol, and is still on the stuff, and I seem to have mislaid the television. I feel like I'm in The Hangover."

Joey nodded, taking in the information, "Okay. Get me as many black rubbish bags as possible, some dirty towels, some super glue and a room we can hide Brian in. We're gonna get this shit done."

Lauren nodded and hurried off to get the things on her list. Meanwhile, Joey wandered into the living room and found Brian lying fast asleep in a puddle of his own sick.

"You are literally the most disgusting person I know." Joey told him, making Brian stir. He sat up clumsily, and gave Joey a drunk smile.

"Right back at you, my fren." He said before collapsing back onto the sofa. Luckily Lauren had returned and they managed to carry Brian into Jaime's bedroom covered in towels. They left him to sleep it off and started the mammoth task of cleaning up.

"Lauren? Are you here?" Julia tentatively walked through the hall, worried of what state she'd find the house in. Twitter had told her enough about Brian and Lauren's night to make her worried and she knew how crap Lauren was at cleaning.

"Jules! Hey!" A very excited, and obviously still a little bit drunk, Lauren bounded into the living room and flung her arms around Julia's neck.

"Lopez! The house is fairly tidy, what's going on?" Julia laughed and then noticed Joey lingering on the sofa, "Ah, the mystery is solved."

"Just don't go upstairs." Joey warned.

"Brian?" She asked, knowing the answer.

"Of course. I'll shower him later; he's looking a bit vomity at the moment."

"Do it before Jaime gets home though, she'll be furious if she sees him all curled up on her bed." Lauren giggled.

Julia pulled a face, "Well then we'd better get started."

By seven o'clock, the guests had started to arrive and the house was, by some sort of miracle, presentable. Lauren had been giving the front of house job, seeing as she was the most welcoming of them all.

"Moses! Meredith!" She yelled as her friends entered, "Jim! Darren!"

"Did you say Darren?" Julia grabbed Lauren, searching the packed room for the signature curly hair.

"Well I more screamed it, but sure, he's here. Why are you so interested?" Lauren asked suspiciously. Julia cursed herself for being so obvious and hurried Lauren to a room where there wasn't loud music or sexually active couples.

"Darren told me he loved me." Julia blushed, sitting on the floor in her bathroom.

"FUCK!" Lauren yelled, nearly falling off the toilet seat.

"Yeah, crazy isn't it."

"No, it's been obvious for fucking ages. But Keith arrived about half an hour ago."

"Keith...?" Julia asked, racking her brains.

"As in ex-boyfriend Keith, the guy you spent Christmas with!"

"FUCK" Julia repeated. She had been so busy thinking about Darren that she'd forgotten Keith was coming to the party. "What am I going to do?"

Lauren shrugged, "You'll have to choose, simple as. Now I'm going back downstairs to see if I can drink off this hangover I've acquired. Want me to make you a Monty Marathon?"

Julia laughed, "A beer will do, thanks."

Julia entered the living room again, the music filling her veins. She recognised the music, Freelance Whales, and knew Darren must have taken over the sound system. She fought her way through the crowds of bodies and sure enough, fiddling with the stereo, was Darren.

"Dar!" She shouted, trying to reach him, "Darren Everett Criss!"

He turned at that, and smiled when he saw who was calling him. The emotions that hit Julia when she saw his messy hair, and his perfect eyebrows, and his day-old stubble, and his grey jumper which made him look like a schoolboy, were overwhelming and she felt her knees go weak. Because the truth was, she'd always hoped that she and Darren would be together, and she had been in love with him since she first heard him sing. They had been friends for a couple of weeks and had headed out to a karaoke bar with a group of the people from their acting class. After lots of persuading and even more booze, Darren had sat at the piano and performed a beautiful version of Imagine by John Lennon. It had hit Julia somewhere in her chest and had never left. It had started as an almost obsessive love as she watched him date other, prettier girls but had slowly turned into a best friend love - which was a lot better in her opinion, especially when Darren returned it. They'd spend hours watching black and white movies and learning how to waltz like the actors, or they'd attempt to make a six course meal for just the two of them, which nearly always ended in a smoky kitchen and a take away pizza.

"Hey Jules, you look beautiful." Darren grinned widely, making Julia giggle and pull him into an embrace.

"It's all for you." She whispered in his ear, and felt him pull her closer. She was all set to stay like that all night, when she spied Meredith and Jaime gossiping suspiciously from across the room. She quickly pulled away from Darren and instead took his hand to lead him to the quieter kitchen. He followed obediently, still with a huge smile on his face.

"Having a nice New Year's Eve eve party?" Darren asked her once they were seated at the table.

"Sort of, though I have no idea why I thought hosting a party the day before the biggest party night of the year was a good idea." Julia admitted, blushing when Darren giggled.

"Well things are going great in my opinion! I think I found Walker and Jaime making out though, I'm never going to get over that image." This time Julia laughed, and she saw Darren's eyes sparkle when she did so.

"I don't trust you Darren Criss, why are you being so smiley?" Julia asked suspiciously, while subtly leaning forward to be closer to him.

"Because you're my best friend, and I haven't seen you in ages! Plus, you have a little bit of pasta sauce on your lip." Darren leant in and gently rubbed Julia's lip with his thumb. Her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes, relishing in the moment. Suddenly, she felt lips on her own: soft, wet lips that pressed against hers in a caring yet lustful way. She leant into the kiss, reaching up to cup Darren's face, for she knew him well enough to know what his lips would feel like, and she felt his hands reach her neck. Just as their lips parted against each other, she heard her name being called.

"Julia?" She forcefully pulled away from the kiss and tried to avoid staring at Darren's swollen lips, because she knew it would make her want to kiss him again. Instead, she turned to the voice, and found a tall, slim man with impeccable fashion taste standing in the middle of the kitchen.

"Keith!" Julia shrieked, noticing Darren's hurt look out of the corner of her eye but deciding to ignore it. "Are you having a nice time?"

"You're having a better one it seems." Keith nodded suggestively at Darren, whose eyes narrowed.

"Darren, leave it. Keith, you cannot waltz into my house and start picking fights with anyone who is my friend, okay?"

"Yeah, this has nothing to do with you." Darren added, failing to keep the tone of contempt out of his voice.

"Nothing to do with me?" Keith repeated, voice rising. "I guess she didn't tell you that she spent all of Christmas with me and my family, and that we shared a bed for all of that time? And that we-"

"Alright Keith, that's enough." Julia interrupted hastily. She was about to try and explain but Darren had jumped up and tackled Keith to the ground.

"Darren! What the fuck are you doing?" Julia yelled. She tried to pull them apart but Dylan rushed in and held her back. So instead she watched as Keith managed to get a punch right in Darren's mouth.

"That's it you little shit, no one hurts my best friend in the whole world!" Walker cried from the doorway, and he rushed in to help Darren. "I'm going to beat the crap out of you!"

People started crowding around, unsure whether to stop the fight or not. It was about to turn really violent, especially when one of Keith's friends turned up to make it even, but Lauren stormed into the kitchen with an evil look in her eye.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" She screamed, her voice piercing through the air and stopping the fight in mid-flow. "Keith and your incredibly attractive friend, get out of my house. You are no longer welcome here." She stared at the pair menacingly until they reluctantly picked themselves up from the ground and sloped off.

"You're lucky this time, but next time we meet you'll have to be scraped off the floor by a police officer." Walker shouted after them, feeling confident.

"Joe, stop being such a turd and go sit in the living room silently." Lauren deadpanned, making Joe hang his head in shame and hurry out of the room.

"Julia and Darren, I want you out too." Lauren turned to them, her eyes less scary but still firm.

"What?! You can't chuck me out of my own house!" Julia laughed, helping Darren off the floor.

"Well I am, now go." Lauren didn't smile or crack a joke like she usually did, instead pointed to the door. Darren nodded and walked out, leaving no choice for Julia but to follow.

The front door slammed behind them in an almost comedic style, and Julia instantly realised how cold she was. Looking up, she saw Darren was holding out his jumper for her to wear, but the hurt in his eyes hadn't gone. She took it gratefully, trying to ignore the buzz she got when their fingers brushed.

"Want to go get pizza?" She asked. He nodded and led the way.

"So are we going to talk about this?" Darren asked once they were seated in their favourite pizza parlour.

"It was a mistake, I know that now. It's just that Keith's the first man who ever loved me, and he asked me out again, and I felt so lucky, you know? Because he's attractive and funny and kind-"

"He is _not_ kind." Darren muttered, but Julia ignored him.

"And it felt so good that he wanted to love me again. But really, he was only ever a replacement for you, and when there was a chance I could have the real thing- the thing I'd wanted for so long- I just took it without thinking about the consequences. Are you mad at me?"

Darren shook his head, "No, and I don't regret kissing you either, not at all. I'm just sad that you think you deserve his love when he's an arsehole who doesn't give a damn about your feelings."

Julia nodded and they fell into silence. Julia studied Darren and noticed all the things that had changed since she'd done it 30 minutes earlier at the party. His eyes weren't crinkled up with laughter, though they were shining; his eyebrows were knitted together in a frown; he had a little cut on his forehead from where Keith had attacked him, and his mouth was bleeding. But he was still Darren, the guy who had once carried her for 2 miles when the heel broke off her shoe. The guy who made her lemon and poppy seed muffins every day for a fortnight when he found out they were her favourite. The guy who was prepared to beat up a guy who was fighting for her affection as well.

"I love you Dar." She whispered unintentionally, and she knew that he heard.

"In a best friend way?" He asked wearily, as if expecting the wrong answer.

"In lots of ways." He nodded and took her hand, rubbing her knuckles softly with his thumb.

"Shall we go back to the party? I forgot to congratulate Walker on getting with Jaime." Julia laughed and nodded, so they made their way back to the party hand in hand.

"What are we doing for New Year's Eve?" Darren asked.

"We were meant to be hitting the town, but I reckon I've had enough excitement to last me a lifetime."

"Do you want to just stay in?"

"With all of the Starkids?" Julia asked.

"Yeah! That would be so fun, we could watch crappy television and drink endless amounts of beer, and see in 2013 together!" Darren's face lit up at the prospect, and made Julia laugh.

"Sure, we'll see if we can convince them to stay in with us."

Darren laughed too and started wittering relentlessly about how brilliant 2012 had been. Julia fell into silence and listened, more to the sound of his voice than the nonsense he was speaking. She looked down at their swinging hands and the way their steps were mirroring each other perfectly, and knew that she was happy. Whether she and Darren would end up together didn't matter, because he was her best friend, and nothing was ever going to change that.


End file.
